Akpabio versus Etok: Matters arising

The closer we get to 2015, the more theatrical our politics will become as great desperation sets in amongst key players seeking public office. We are already being served something of a foretaste of the drama in Akwa Ibom where state governor, Godswill Akpabio, has been locked in a very public spat with the senator representing Ikot Ekpene senatorial district, Aloysius Etok.

The whole row broke out after the governor – whose two-term tenure expires in two years – made known his intention to run for the seat presently being occupied by Etok as part of his career projection.

The speculation has been on for a while, but Akpabio finally removed all doubt about his ambition during the 20th year remembrance of former Southeastern State Governor, the late Brig.-Gen. Udoakaha Esuene, in Eket earlier this year.

Perhaps in a bid to soften the punch with a bit of levity, newspapers quoted the governor as saying, “This is the first time the senators are going to know that Senator Aloysius will be my campaign manager during the senatorial election in the state in 2015.”

But if it was a joke, the incumbent senator was not amused – and that is putting it mildly. In reaction, he has been firing on all cylinders ever since. In a chat on AKBC Radio 90.5 FM, Uyo, Etuk declared: “Akpabio must respect my office if he does not respect me like I respect his office of the governor which also covers me”.

Some have criticised – even vilified him – for the way and manner he has gone about his senate bid. They are entitled to their views. But they must also concede that the governor has not committed any crime in aspiring. He certainly would not be the first person to seek to go to the legislature after serving in the executive branch – that is why in the Senate today you will find several ex-governors.

Of course, you may quarrel with his style – but then everyone to his own methods. He has chosen to be upfront about the sort of thing that some other person will be scheming about behind the scenes. In that sense Akpabio’s only offence is being brutally frank about his intentions. But, again, in Nigerian politics truth-telling is a crime of sorts.

It would have been great if this whole matter ended here and the two men were left to pursue their interests in ways they saw fit. Unfortunately, we have since seen things descend to the theatre of the absurd with the allegations that Akpabio was behind an attempt to kill the senator.

At the press conference where he aired the very grave allegations, Etok accused Akpabio of despatching a “hit squad” after him, with threatening text messages advising him to renounce his ambition for another for a third term in the upper legislative chamber, or face the consequence of being targeted within seven days.

He said: “I want the governor to tell Nigerians and the international community if there is anything wrong in any man aspiring to contest for an office.”

“Is that enough for the governor to instruct the council chairmen to say that if I don’t withdraw from the contest, that they will recall me? He asked the state of assembly to pass resolution that they will recall me, to the extent that members of the house of assembly came on television to insult and malign me.”

“Not only that, the governor has now loosed his hit squad, including what I have on this phone some text messages that if I don’t retract the statement that I will contest election, after seven days, I will see what they will do.”

He further claimed that the governor instructed “different groups that if I don’t retract the statement within seven days, I will either be dead to stop me or alive to retract the statement.” Very weighty allegations indeed!

Following up on his charges, the senator wrote to the State Security Service (SSS) asking for an investigation. They duly obliged and set up a sting operation which netted one Adelola Olaore aka General Africa who thought he could make quick money out of the public quarrel between erstwhile political allies.

The SSS probe has since established that there was no truth whatsoever in claims by Olaore that he had been contracted by so-called associates of Akpabio to eliminate Etok. His was simply a phantom assassination plot to exhort money, and based on that the senator had been crying wolf.

When he was paraded before the media, Adelola Tamunotonye Olaore, who is a 29 years old graduate of Mechanical Engineering from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, disclosed that he comes from Oyo State, but had lived all his life in Rivers State.

He admitted to attempting to dupe the senator by “lying to him”. But he denied telling Etok he was contracted by Akpabio loyalists to assassinate him. “I never told the senator anything like that. How would I tell a senator such a thing and come to Abuja to collect money,” he asked.

It is often said that all is fair in politics and war. However, there must come a point at which the line should be drawn. It is one thing exchange words because one’s ego has been bruised; it is an entirely different matter when a man’s integrity and name are being tarnished with accusations that he was planning murder. This is the same allegation that the SSS has debunked.

What would be the fair and reasonable thing to do? In one word: apologise to the one you have unfairly accused, and whose reputation you have impugned. Unfortunately, Etok does not seem to be in a hurry to rectify his error.

We must not allow emotions to cloud our reasoning. What is going on between the senator and governor is pure politics – including ongoing attempts by stakeholders in his senatorial zone to initiate his recall. As long as this is done legally there’s nothing wrong with it.

Of course, some commentators have tried to cast this political battle in light of a struggle between top dog and underdog. Romantics tend to side with anyone they perceive to be at a disadvantage in this kind of contest. But that should not mean we strip the so-called top dog of all his constitutional rights to fair hearing.

Everything goes in Nigerian politics but accusing your opponent of being an assassin just to win public sympathy is simply beyond the pale. Let the senator do the honourable thing by apologising to the governor. He can then continue with his challenge for a third term in 2015 and let the people decide who they want.

Great write up all for the ‘top dog’. Mr. Ibok, while you down play the gravity of the insult and condescending approach adopted by your ‘top dog’ to appoint a campaign manager for himself in a forum where you have other Senators in attendance, does it not offend your sense of reasoning that this is beyond mere methods and style. Is there nothing uncouth and uncivil and inelegant about this so-called method? If the Governor as an aspirant is bent on getting to the senate, is that the way to go about it? Is there no longer room for courtesy and decorum? what is the crime in the Senator voicing out the fact that respect cannot be displaced in politics irrespective of who is involved. We cannot change the rules. Agreed that we have a couple of former Governors as members of the upper legislative chambers, is this how they went about their ambition? Why must it be Akwa Ibom State? We also have instances where former governors have lost senatorial elections in Nigeria!

I do not know how much an apology is worth in terms of naira and kobo, but I am sure that at the time the alarm was sounded, there was every reason to do so. I am also sure that there are other circumstantial facts which support the raising of the alarm. Since this is all politics- according to you – you ought to know that the Senator is the man to beat at the elections and not the other way round. For the recall drama; it ended without an opportunity to get trounced by the ‘under dog’.